Was Lost, But Now Found
by saturday101
Summary: AU, Two years after the Promised Day, Winry died, and the former Fullmetal Alchemist disappeared without a trace. He was soon found again, but he was much different than before.
1. Chapter 1

"Brother, please!'

"No Al, I'm not going back."

"But – "

"No."

"Well, why the heck not?"

"I don't have a home to return to."

"…Winry wouldn't have wanted you to stay away."

"Winry's dead, nothing can change that, no matter how much we wish it wasn't true."

"…"

"I have to go, but I'll call again later."

"See ya Al…"

~:~

As soon as Tamaki walked into the room, they knew something was wrong. He was smiling like always, but his eyes were blank. Haruhi was the first to notice.

"Um…sempai?" Haruhi tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"

_'And here we go…' _The blond internally sighed. "Haruhiiii! You're worried about your father! What a loving daughter I have!" he squealed.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Okay, sorry I asked."

The next to bring it up was Honey. "Are you all right, Tama-chan?"

"I'm perfectly fine!" he grinned. _'Please tell me this isn't going to be an ongoing thing…'_

**_One hour later_**

After being asked by the twins, Mori, Kyoya, and _Nekozawa, _of all people, Tamaki wanted to tear his hair out.

"I told you, I'm _fine!" _the blond growled through gritted teeth.

"Fullmetal!" A black haired man in a blue military uniform walked in.

"No way!" Tamaki yelled. "Not today! I am _not _dealing with this crap today!"

The stranger smirked. "You've got nowhere to run this time, Fullmetal."

The rest of the Host Club could only stare in shock as their king's eyes glinted dangerously. "You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with, Colonel." With that, he smashed a nearby window and jumped out of it.

Everyone was silent – save the Colonel who was swearing loudly. "

"What…just happened?"

~:~

"I thought I'd find you here, Tamaki-sempai."

The secondyear student looked up from his ramen."Oh, Haruhi!" You should try this ramen, it's really good! Sir! Can you get another bowl for my friend here?"

A steaming bowl of miso ramen was placed on the counter.

Haruhi took a seat next to him. "What was that, sempai?" she asked, cutting right to the chase.

Tamaki stared into his bowl, smile melting away. "That….was just…I…" He sighed. "That was an old boss from back home."

"You worked in France?"

"Heh, not France. Amestris."

"Amestris?"

He grinned. "I'll try to explain later. For now, try the ramen! I swear, you'll love it!"

~:~

"'To gain something, you must first give up something of equal value. That is the first law of alchemy: equivalent exchange."

"What does alchemy have to do with your old boss?" Haruhi's brow furrowed. "And what're you doing in my bathroom?"

"One second…ah, there we go!" Tamaki finally came out, his eyes were a molten gold instead of the usual violet. "Now where was I?"

"S-sempai, your eyes!"

He blinked. "Oh, right. Sorry, something got in my contacts and I had to take them out. Should've warned you…I was talking about the past, right? …Augh! I hate talking about the past!" The blond flailed a bit, covering his face with his hands.

"Sempai?" The brunette asked hesitantly.

"Sorry." Suoh sighed. "You like stories right?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Good, 'cuz this'll be long." He took a deep breath. "Once there were two brothers named Elric. The elder was Edward and the younger was Alphonse. They lived in a town called Resembool in the country of Amestris…"

Tamaki continued, weaving the tale of the two brothers and their quest to restore their bodies. The people were brought to life. Colonel Roy Mustang and his team. Winry Rockbell and Granny Pinako. The Briggs soldiers. The Homunculi. The Xingese travellers. Everyone they met on they're travels. Every single one of them described in great detail.

"Everything soon came to an end. The country was at peace. Ed had finished his research and was returning to Resembool, but his ending wasn't meant to be a happy one…" His eyes, which had burned with emotion during his tale, seemed to dim. Two years after the Promised Day, Winry was killed in a railroad accident. She had been on her way home from Rush Valley.

"Ed couldn't stand it; just when life had finally given him a break, fate had screwed him over!" The blond's eyes shone – with anger or sadness, Haruhi couldn't tell. "He did the only thing he could think of; he ran. But there was no where he could run. Everything just reminded him of her. Finally, he left; left Amestris, left the entire side of the Gate. Truth was generous, he restored Ed's body completely and allowed a way for him to both travel between and communicate between realms, but, as always, there was a price.

"Edward was de-aged and sent to a world much more technologically advanced than his, but alchemically stupid. He was found by a French woman and a Japanese man. Together, they decided to raise him, but the man's mother broke the couple in two. That left the poor woman to raise him practically on her own…Eventually, Edward grew up again, but not even a year had passed in Amestris. The sun had lightened his hair and colored contacts hid his golden eyes. He had all of his memories from before…and all the pain that went with it.

"Sometimes I wonder if it would've been better to have forgotten it all…" Tamaki sighed, dropping all pretenses.

"No, sempai!" Haruhi's eyes shone with determination. "Winry… I think that would've hurt her!"

Tama - …Edward blinked, then grinned. "Thanks, Haruhi," he said, ruffling her hair, "I needed that."

The brunette's face heated. "S-sure."

"And sorry about the whole 'daddy' thing. It's pretty weird, huh?"

"I guess."

"Ah, well…" Ed got up and stretched. "I guess I gotta go…oh." He glanced at his underclassman. "I hate formalities, so when I've got my contacts in, just call me Tamaki – no sempai, got it?" After receiving a nod he continued, "But when the contacts are out, call me Ed. All right?" Another nod. "Good." The Amestrian grinned, "See ya, Haruhi!" He walked out the door.

Shouts of "YOU DIRTY PERVERT! WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER?!" quickly followed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow, Tamaki, that elf costume looks really good on you!"

"Yeah, you look just like Legolas from _Lord of the Rings_! I love your braid!"

Tamaki Suoh smiled confidently. "Thank you ladies, I –" He broke off suddenly and turned towards the door with a frown.

"Is there something wrong?" Shiori Igawa asked.

"Oh, no, I just thought I felt something ominous approaching." He shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing."

The door burst open and a very angry woman with dark dreadlocks stormed in. "EDWARD ELRIC!"

"Gottagobye!" The blond jumped off the couch and dashed into the back room, slamming the door behind him.

The woman raced after him.

"Ah! No, wait, Teacher, I can explain – gah!"

Screams of pain and the sound of things crashing to the floor made everyone turn and look in the sounds' direction. Tamaki's head appeared as he attempted to crawl through the door.

"_GET BACK HERE AND LET ME KILL YOU!_"

The host club's king screamed in terror as he was pulled back into the room. He grabbed the door frame and gripped it tightly, knuckles turning white. His efforts were in vain, and the blond was pulled back into the back room.

"Maybe you girls should go home for the day," Haruhi suggested.

"A-all right." The girls nodded in almost perfect unison.

"Bye! We'll see you tomorrow!"

"See you later!" The customers fled out the door.

The woman walked out of the room with a smile. "That'll teach him to disappear. I'm sorry about the disturbance."

"Ouch. I haven't gotten a beating like that in years…" Tamaki emerged slightly battered and his clothes torn. He rubbed his right eye. "I think you tore my contact!"

"You've gone soft, my idiotic student."

A large man entered the room. "Izumi!"

Immediately, the woman's demeanor changed. She smiled sweetly."There you are, honey!"

"Sorry to interrupt your guys' moment before it happens, but what are you guys doing here?" Edward removed his torn contact and examined it, scowling.

"We heard that they found you, so we came to check in. People have been looking for you everywhere."

Sig narrowed his eyes and raised his hand.

"Look out, Tama-chan!" Honey cried frantically.

The massive man brought his hand down on Ed's head and rubbed it affectionately. "You've grown."

"Thanks, I guess the milk Maman kept shoving down my throat actually paid off since I'm way taller than last time."

**"What're you talking about, boss? And who is this?"** the Hitachiin's asked in unison.

"I'm Izumi Curtis and this is my husband Sig. I used to be this idiot's teacher." She offered her hand.

Kyoya shook it. "You must be an impressive woman to teach someone like Tamaki."

"Oh, I'm just a housewife." Izumi laughed and glanced at her former student.

"Just go with it," the blond mouthed. He then turned and grabbed his bag to get a replacement contact. "Teacher," he continued out loud, "the twins over there are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin." Suoh pulled out a strip of daily contacts, broke one off, pulled off the top cover, and put the contact in his eye. He blinked a few times.

"Which one is which?"

"The one with the lower voice is Hikaru and the one with the higher voice is Kaoru."

Hikaru frowned. "Wow, boss, since when –"

"– Could you tell us apart?"

"Since the day you guys agreed to join the Host Club. I really should've –" Edward cut himself off. "Ah, never mind. The tall one is Takeshi Morinozuka – just call him Mori – and the kid next to him is Mitsukuni Haninozuka or Honey, as we call him."

"What about this young lady?" The housewife gestured to Haruhi.

"That's Haruhi Fujioka. She, uh…" Suoh coughed. "The school doesn't know she's a girl, or rather the students don't."

For a long moment Izumi said nothing, fixing her former student with a hard look. Finally she took her fist and slammed into his face.

"Gah! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot – oh, don't play dumb, I know this is your fault. If Winry was here, that would've been a wrench."

Tamaki fell silent and seemed to close off.

**"Boss?"**

"Tamaki?" Haruhi inched forward. "Senpai?"

"I'm fine," he said tersely. "It's just a sensitive topic, still."

"I know."

"Hold on, what the _heck_ are you talking about?" Hikaru yelled (except he didn't say heck).

"Oh, nothing," Tamaki practically sang. "I know! Teacher, since this is your first time here, why don't I give you a tour? I'm sure commoners don't get to see a place like Ouran Academy every day!" He grabbed Izumi and Sig by their hands and pulled them out the door.

"W-wait! Edward!"

~:~

"I don't know, Reiko." Honey hugged Usa-chan to his chest. "There's something going on with Tama-chan and Haru-chan obviously knows something about it."

Reiko Kanazuki took a sip of her tea. "Hanajima says he has strange waves."

"That means his aura or something feels different than other people, right?"

"Yes." The Black Magic Club member gave the barest trace of a smile. "I do have to agree. He's not like the rest of the students here…"

A tall man with gold eyes walked into the room. "Excuse me, but is this the Host Club? I'm looking for my brother."

"The club's closed for today." Honey smiled. "If you come back tomorrow, I'm sure we'll be able to help..."

"And here we are, back at the Third Music room, home of the Host Club!" Tamaki led Izumi and Sig into the room. He froze when he saw the stranger. "Al?"

"Brother!" Alphonse tackled Ed into a hug. "What were you thinking? Why –"

"We can talk about this at my house." The former alchemist started walking out of the room. "Come on."

"Tama-chan?"

He paused and glanced at Honey. "Oh, right. Um…I'll try to explain everything later…Hi, Reiko. Bye, Reiko."

Kanazuki and Honey watched as Alphonse, Izumi, and Sig followed Tamaki out the door.

"…Tama-chan's being kinda rude today. It's weird."

"Yes, it is."

~:~

"What's the deal, Al? I told you not to tell people where I was." Ed raised an eyebrow.

"General Mustang and his team cornered me and made me tell them!" The younger Elric flinched. "I'm sorry, Brother!"

The former alchemist sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it would've happened eventually."

"So Alphonse knew where you were the entire time?" Izumi raised an eyebrow.

"N-no, Teacher." Al shook his head. "I didn't know where he was until a few months ago."

"For me, that was about four years ago." Ed laughed sheepishly. "I would've called earlier, but I wanted to get through puberty again…"

Their teacher shot a death glare in his direction.

"Brother…can you come back to Amestris?"

The elder Elric blinked. "What?"

"I mean, it doesn't have to be forever, but it's almost the anniversary…" Alphonse shrunk back. "And everyone's worried about you and they need to know that you're okay."

"All right."

"And Granny Pinako – huh?" The younger Elric's eyes lit up. "Really? You'll come?!"

"Yeah, I'll have to tell my dad and everyone at home, but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Speaking of home…" Izumi blanched. "How on earth did you end up living in a huge place like this?!"

Ed laughed. "I just got lucky, I guess."


	3. Chapter 3

Tamaki threw some clothes into a small suitcase that lay on his bed. "I shouldn't be gone for more than a week, but I might end up staying longer."

"Young Master, how did you meet these people?" Shima asked. Her eyebrows were knit together in concern.

"They're from back home," he said carefully, "and they're like family. I'm just going for a quick visit, don't worry."

"Would that not mean you'd be near your mother? If you're going home, will that not violate the contract you made with your grandmother?" The old woman wrung her hands.

The blond blinked, smiled, and shook his head. "Don't worry about that, Shima. I won't be anywhere near France." The suitcase was snapped closed. "Well, I'm off."

"Have a good trip, Young Master." She bowed, though questions still lingered in her eyes.

"Bye, Shima."

The rest of the mansion's staff sent him off with their usual farewell, as if it were any other day and he was simply leaving on vacation.

If only the rest of his departure had been that simple.

"Where are you going, Tama-chan?" Honey bounded up to him, Usa-chan in tow.

The blond stammered out something unintelligible and took a step back. He shook his head. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You've been acting weird, Boss –"

"– So we came to check on you."

"Uh, okay. Thanks…I guess."

Haruhi glanced at the suitcase in Tamaki's hand. "Where are you going?"

"A place," he blurted. "A place in continent that's kinda like Europe or Germany or –"

"Brother, hurry up!"

Tamaki paled. "O-one sec, Al! Look, guys, I don't really have time to explain. I'll see you in a few weeks, bye!" The blond threw open the car door and jumped in. "Drive."

From the driver's seat, Izumi rolled her eyes at her student's antics and started down the road. Sig sat in the passenger's side as the navigator, using a map instead of a GPS.

"Was that the friends you told me about?" Al asked.

"Yeah."Edward removed his contacts, blinked a few times, looked out the back window, and cursed. "Though I wish I wasn't friends with them right now. They're following us."

"Let them," Izumi called.

"T-teacher!" the former alchemist sputtered. "We can't…They're not…"

"They'll find out eventually, why not today?"

"Because…" he faltered. Ed took a deep breath and seemed to brace himself. "Because only Haruhi knows this…stuff and even she doesn't really know what I'm like…"

Sig glanced at his might-as-well-be-adopted-son. "Why not?"

"I'll…tell you later. Do you remember where the crossing point is?"

"Yes, don't worry." Izumi glanced at the Elric brothers in her rearview mirror. "Everything will be fine, Ed. You'll see."

~:~

There was nothing special about the location of the crossing point, it was just an abandoned train station. It was in complete disrepair – weeds grew over the tracks, part of the roof had collapsed, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. The only strange thing about it was a window that showed nothing but the wall underneath.

"Tamaki-sempai, what are we doing here?"

Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "This isn't one of your games, is it?"

Edward grit his teeth and said nothing. Instead, he walked up to the grimy window, fogged it up, and started to trace out numbers. "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's door."

Two huge stone doors appeared and opened. Only a blinking white light was visible beyond the Gate. A gust of wind came from nowhere and whipped everyone's hair around.

"Let's go." Ed grabbed his bag and turned to the gaping Host Club. "You coming?"

Hikaru recovered first. The elder Hitachiin grabbed his twin and marched through the doorway, disappearing as if deconstructing.

Izumi followed after with a roll of her eyes.

"Come on, Brother." Alphonse pulled on the Edward's arm.

"All right." Together, the Elrics stepped through.

The journey was just like walking through a regular doorway – one minute, he was in Tokyo, the next, he was in Resembool. (To an outsider, it looked as if they were falling apart into smaller pieces.) The rebuilt Elric home cast its shadow over the portal. As Ed walked forward slowly, his eyes never left the huge green expanse dotted with the occasional house and sheep.

'_Not even France can compare to this…'_ He smiled.

"It's huge…" Haruhi breathed behind him.

"**It's…kinda boring,"** the twins said flatly.

The elder Elric glared at them. "Sorry my hometown isn't exciting. It's _just_ a tiny town at the edge of a backwater country in _another dimension._"

"…Cool."

"Thanks, Mori!" All heads whipped towards Al, who was smiling brightly next to his brother. A silence fell over the group.

"…I'll be inside." Ed walked towards the front of the house, away from the awkward silence. "Is my room still the same?"

"Yep."

By the time Alphonse remembered one…_small_ detail, his brother was already in the house.

Edward walked through the halls slowly, taking in every detail. Small pieces of furniture had been rearranged, and the kitchen had been repainted, but every picture was in its original place. They lined the wall near the staircase, as if they were welcoming him back home. He stopped when his eyes fell onto a photo of Winry. His heart seemed to constrict.

"_Ed!"_ He could almost hear her say. _"You should've called and told me you were coming home!"_

'_I'm pathetic.'_ The blond turned away and opened the door to his room. _'It's been seventeen years, and I'm acting like it happened last week.'_

His room lay untouched as well, save for it being kept clean.

'_Al's turning into a clean freak.' _Ed laughed to himself, throwing his suitcase onto the bed. A puff of dust flew up from it. _'Maybe not…'_

He turned to the closet, pulled open the door, and took out his old outfit. A quick check revealed that they were way too small.

The hallway floor creaked behind him.

"Hey, can you help me with this? It needs to be bigger." Edward looked over his shoulder. It wasn't Alphonse in the hallway.

Mei Chang screamed.

"Gah!" The blond dropped his clothes.

"What's wrong?" Ling Yao, dressed in royal robes, ran up to the room. Lan Fan appeared silently in her armor and mask.

Ed froze like a deer in headlights. "A-Al!"

His brother rose sheepishly from behind the Xingese. "Sorry, Brother, I should've warned you."

"_Really?"_

"Wait, that's Ed?" Ling blinked.

Alphonse nodded. "Yeah. He came back for the anniversary. This is probably a good time to explain everything. Right, Brother?"

"Whatever."

~:~

The Host Club sat in the Elric's living room. Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi looked vaguely uncomfortable. Mori looked the same as always as he sat next to Sig. Honey chatted animatedly to Izumi with a piece of cake in his hands. Kyoya sat in an armchair, looking utterly ticked off.

Tamaki, contacts in, dropped down into a chair across from them, sighing resignedly. "Ling, Lan Fan, May, this is the Ouran High School Host Club," he said in monotone. He pointed to each one in order. "Honey, Mori, Hikaru, Kaoru, Haruhi, and Kyoya. Guys, this is Ling Yao, Emperor of Xing, Lan Fan, his body guard, and Mei Chang, princess of Xing…or something."

"Or something?!" Mei stood indignantly. "Edward Elric, you little shrimp! You're just as rude as before!"

Tamaki twitched, but smiled as princely/hostly as he could. "My apologies, princess. I didn't mean to offend you. I simply couldn't remember if you had other titles along with being a princess."

"B-brother, what are you doing?"

"Talking." Tamaki lapsed into Ed mode.

"Hold on, what the –" heck "– is going on?!" Hikaru yelled.

Suoh sighed. "Fine. I'm going to explain this once and only once. Ask questions if you want, but I'm not explaining the whole thing twice." He ran a hand through his hair took a deep breath. "To start off, my name's not really Tamaki Suoh, it's Edward Elric. I'm not from France, I'm from Amestris, which is a country similar to Germany in the nineteen-twenties or thirties. We're an alchemically based country with a military based government, etcetera." The blond rolled his eyes and continued his explanation as fast as possible while keeping it intelligible.

Once finished, he took another deep breath. "Only those with excellent social standing and those from filthy rich families are lucky enough to spend their time at the elite private school Ouran Academy. The Ouran Host Club is where the school's handsomest boys with too much time on their hands entertain young ladies, who also have way too much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran Academy's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful."

Silence once again.

Then Ling broke it with some obscene reference.

Haruhi turned red.

Hikaru and Kaoru's mouths fell open.

Mori's eyes widened considerably.

Honey blinked innocently.

"_No."_ Ed rolled his eyes. "We just have tea and spend time with them. That's it."

"Really?" The emperor waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut up, idiot." The former alchemist whacked his friend in the head.

"Hey!"

"Ed…" Mei frowned. "Why are your eyes purple?"

"Oh, right." Edward took out his contacts and put them away in the case he pulled out of his pocket.

"You have got to be kidding," Kyoya scoffed. "I've had quite enough of this game of yours, Tamaki."

The blond leaned forward, supporting his chin with his hand. "Right, because I spent thousands of dollars to set up a place that looks, like a completely different world and wore contacts over contacts to make my eyes go from purple to gold. Yeah, that makes perfect sense."

"Kyoya has a point though. You really expect us to believe that you're from a different dimension?" Kaoru asked. "And that we're in one?"

"Why not?" Haruhi defended. "Tamaki-senpai might be an idiot, but he hasn't lied to us yet. Why would he now?"

"Yeah, but if he's telling the truth about this, then he's been lying to us from the start." Hikaru scowled, as if disgusted.

"Not necessarily, he just didn't tell us the entire truth!"

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it's not!"

Ed rolled his eyes and tuned the two out. _'How do I convince them that this is real?' _he wondered. _'They won't believe me on our technology alone, and who knows what they'd think if I just took them around the country. They'll probably think the people are actors and that alchemists are doing magic tricks when they perform transmutations…'_

"Stop staring at me, it's kind of creepy."

His eyes refocused. Haruhi was directly in his line of sight, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Oh, sorry." The blond shifted his gaze to the picture frame on the side table next to her. An idea formed in Ed's mind and he straightened. "Al, is Granny Pinako still in business?"

Al frowned. "Yeah…why?"

"She has the one thing that might convince them this is real: automail."

~:~

A large black and white dog with a metal leg lay in the yard of a medium house. When he saw the group, he started to bark, then ran up and tackled Ed.

The blond fell to the ground. "Hey, Den." Edward struggled to get the dog off of him. Den licked his face happily in response. Ed made a face.

"Come here, Den!" A tiny old woman came out of the house. The dog ran over to her.

"Does that dog have a robot leg?" Hikaru asked with a frown.

The woman, seemingly ignoring the elder Hitachiin, fixed the former alchemist with a steely gaze. "So, you came back."

"Only for the anniversary," the elder Elric said, as if it explained everything.

"Hmph." Pinako turned around and started back toward the door. "You might as well come in since you're here." She paused halfway through the doorway. "I made pie."

The Elric brothers cheered and ran inside.

"Hey, Granny," Ed called as the rest of the group caught up to them. He and Al sat at a table in the kitchen, already digging into some pie. "They've never seen automail before. Can you show them?"

"Why don't you just show them your leg?" Ling asked from the kitchen window sill. Lan Fan and Mei walked in from the hallway.

"Gah!" The elder Elric jumped. "Ling! I thought you guys stayed at the house!"

"Why would I want to miss out on all the fun?" The Emperor grinned. "Besides, Lan Fan's automail is due for inspection. Is that pie?"

Ed grabbed his plate and the pie pan, moving them as far away from Ling as possible. "You don't get any.

"Aw, that's not fair! Everyone else gets some!"

Granny had grabbed the pie and was dishing it up for everyone else – including the Xingese girls.

"You'll eat it all!"

"But Ed!"

"No." Despite his words, less than a minute later, Ed walked over to the pie pan, snagged another piece, and passed it to Ling with a scowl. "Here."

The Emperor of Xing grinned. "I knew you'd never let your best friend starve!"

"I just didn't want you to eat it all." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but the former Fullmetal alchemist stubbornly glared at Ling.

"If you're done, Edward," Pinako said, "I'd like to get the automail inspections done."

"Yeah, yeah. It'll only be one inspection though. I don't need one."

"It's been almost a year since your last," she admonished, "so unless you had a mechanic wherever you were, your automail must be in horrible condition. Winry," the old woman paused and shut her eyes briefly. "Winry would have your hide if she knew about this."

Ed's jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Who's this Winry everyone keeps talking about?" Hikaru asked Haruhi in a whisper.

The brunette smiled sadly. "His old girlfriend, and I think his childhood friend. She was killed."

"Woah," Kaoru's eyes widened, "who'd have thought Boss went through something like that…"

"First of all," the elder Elric said finally, "I can hear you guys. Second," he lifted his left pant leg, revealing his restored leg, "I don't need an inspection."

"…All right," Pinako nodded, as if sudden restoration of limbs was normal. She turned to Lan Fan, "Then let's get your arm in shape."

The bodyguard inclined her head, mouth full of apple pie.

"Does Granny seem…subdued to you?" Ed whispered to his younger brother as the two left the room. "She'd normally have yelled at me by now."

Al stared at his plate for a while. Finally, he looked up at Ed with a solemn gaze. "A lot of things happened while you were gone, Brother."

The former alchemist stiffened. Turning to the Host Club, he plastered a smile to his face. "Well, I promised I'd show you what automail is, right? So let's go watch Lan Fan's inspection."

The Host Club, save Kyoya, looked at each other, shrugged and started out the door. Al, May, and Ling followed suit.

Ootori fixed Edward with a death stare and swept past him without a word.

'_I knew bringing them here would be a bad idea.'_ With a sigh, the blond grabbed the plates left on the table and carried them over to the sink. _'I could really use your support now, Winry.'_


	4. Chapter 4

"So this is automail?" Hikaru and Kaoru peered over the metal limb. "It's very steampunk."

"Not stylish at all."

"Old-fashioned looking."

"What's with the ridges there?"

A ten-year-old girl slammed a wrench into both their heads. "It's supposed to be functional, not pretty, you dorks!" She continued to scold them heatedly.

"Granny," Edward stared at the tall, brunette girl in front of him, "who's this?"

The girl stopped her tirade and turned to face him. "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm Mika, Ms. Pinako's apprentice." She stuck out her hand.

"Nice to meet you…" The elder blond shook it, staring at her incredulously.

"I took her on quite a few months ago." The old woman bent over Lan Fan's dismembered arm, making small repairs where needed. "She's learned very quickly."

"Well, I have a great teacher!"

Ed smiled wanly. "You guys okay here?"

"Yeah, boss."

Honey paused in his conversation with Ling. "We're good over here, Tama-chan!" He turned back to the Emperor of Xing. "So if cake's not the same in Xing, what's it like?"

Mori nodded.

Lan Fan and Haruhi didn't hear him, chatting animatedly.

Kyoya was nowhere to be found.

Edward sighed and walked out of the room. Running a hand through his hair, he made his way toward the living room where he heard the undertones of Alphonse's voice. "Al, have you seen –"

His brother was having what seemed to be an intense discussion with Mei Chang. An uncharacteristic flash of irritation crossed Al's face and he said something in gibberish.

'_Not gibberish,'_ Ed realized, _'Xingese. What's so secretive that they have to discuss it in a different language?'_ He lifted his hand and rapped on the doorframe. "Sorry to interrupt your 'moment' or whatever you're doing, but have you seen Kyoya?"

The two jumped.

"B-Brother! How long were you standing there?" Guilt was written all over his face, making him look like a deer in headlights.

"Thirty seconds, maybe?" The elder Elric shrugged, trying to ignore Al's weird behavior. _'Probably none of my business...yet.'_

"You asked about Kyoya?" Mei asked. "I think he's in the bathroom." It was obvious she wanted him to leave quickly.

"Ah." With a knowing grin, he sat down in a chair. "So what were you talking about? That was…what? Xingese?"

Mei scowled and muttered something in her native language.

"We were just, um, discussing how you don't seem to be on very good terms with Kyoya." Alphonse avoided his brother's eyes.

Ed stared at his brother for a minute before saying softly, "Obviously that wasn't what you were talking about."

The younger Elric winced.

"But since I hid where I was for a year – your time – I guess secrets are to be expected." With a sad smile, he stood up. "I was just checking to make sure Kyoya didn't run off or something. Not that he'd be stupid enough to." The former alchemist turned to leave.

"Wait, Brother!" Alphonse looked down, fidgeting slightly. "I didn't want to tell you so soon after you came home, but…Granny Pinako's really sick."

Edward spun to face his brother, eyes wide with shock. "How sick?"

"Lung cancer," he said quietly. "Doctors say she has two years to live – at most."

The older brother let out a long string of expletives. Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the room, down the halls and out the door. The door slammed behind him.

~:~

The first person Edward saw when he came back inside an hour later was Pinako.

Wordlessly and with red-rimmed eyes, he bent down and hugged her tightly.

"So Alphonse told you then," the little old woman sighed. "Well, it can't be helped. Mei got your tickets. You'll be leaving for Central tomorrow morning at nine. All eleven of you."

"You're not coming?"

"I'm too old to travel nowadays. Besides, Mika needs to continue her training." A vein began to bulge on Granny's temple. "Now let go of me already!"

"Sorry." The blond released the hug.

"Your friends went back to your house. I think Al wanted to talk to you."

"That's weird." He frowned and headed out the door. "Thanks, Granny. We'll stop by later. Do you want to come over for dinner?"

She shook her head. "Why don't you come over for supper? I'll make stew."

"All right!" Ed's eyes lit up. "I'll ask the others, and if they don't want to come, I'll come by myself. See ya, Granny!" He walked out the door.

~:~

"No, wait, Al!" Ed struggled to get out of his brother's hold.

"Sorry, Brother," Al said firmly, "but this is for your own good." The younger blond threw his brother into his room.

Five seconds later, Kyoya was thrown into the room, trying to look as dignified as he could.

"Ha, they think a closed door can keep us in here?" The blond raised a fist and walked to the door.

Outside the room, someone clapped and hit the door.

"…Well, crap."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow but kept his gaze disinterested.

"Door was locked alchemically. Probably reinforced too." Ed sighed. "If I hadn't given up my alchemy, I could get us out…Eh, what can you do?" He flopped backward onto his bed. A puff of dust flew from the mattress. "So," the blond coughed, "how do you like Resembool?

A glare was the only response.

"You're such a megane. Remember that weird song Renge showed us – Megane Aru Aru no Uta, or somethin'? That's, like, your theme song." The former rolled onto his stomach and raised his head to look at Kyoya.

In the dark-haired boy's hand was a small red box.

"Give me that!" Edward scrambled off his bed and snatched the box out of his hand. The blond tucked it into his pants pocket.

"Didn't your mother teach you manners?"

Time stilled.

"Which one?" Ed asked lightly. "The one who's dead or the one in France that I'm forbidden from seeing?" He scowled. "I know you're mad, but using my mother to taunt me? That's a low blow and you know it."

"I suppose I would feel worse about it if I had proof that Anne-Sophie even exists."

"You've met my father, haven't you?" The blond rolled his eyes. "Look, Father's an idiot, but he's not a liar – or a fake. You know that. After all, the Suohs have been around as long as the Ootoris. I know you think I'm a fake, that Tamaki Suoh doesn't exist – don't give me that look, I know you, Kyoya – but I didn't fake much."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses. "Then that begs the question of what you _did_ fake."

"The over extravagance, the idiocy…" Ed grimaced. "Okay, not all of the idiocy, but the point is that I'm pretty much the same person, regardless of what my real name is."

The dark-haired boy frowned.

"I'm not making sense, am I?" He sighed. "All right, you know how in reincarnation that a person has a previous identity before their current life? It's like that. I didn't die, but Truth – who's, like, God or something – turned me into a baby, so it's essentially the same."

Kyoya nodded slowly, digesting the information. "How is it the same?"

"I grew up again," Edward said simply. "I learned how to play the piano, become charming, fit into the rich society. All I did was curb my temper and all the…dark aspects of my personality. It hasn't been obvious, I know, but being here…it's bringing up a lot of memories. I thought I could handle it, but it's a lot harder than I predicted."

"You said you grew up again, meaning whatever is haunting you happened seventeen years ago. Why –"

"Is it so hard for me? Because I've refused to let myself think about it, so every time I do, the pain is still fresh." He took a deep breath and walked towards the window. "I'm not going to go into detail. You'll probably find out about my past in the next two weeks."

"Tamaki…" Kyoya narrowed his eyes. "Is the window sealed as well?"

"…You have got to be kidding me." The blond slid the glass pane open. "Wow, I'm dumb." He ducked under the frame, putting one foot on the sill. "C'mon."

"We're on the second floor."

"So?" Gold eyes blinked in confusion. "Oh. I'll come back for you." Without another word, the former alchemist stepped out the window and disappeared from sight.

~:~

"Alphonse said you'd be here," Haruhi said, walking carefully around the gravestones.

Ed looked up and smiled. "Hey. I got tired of all the angst that was going on at the house, so I came here to catch everyone up." He turned back to the stone in front of him. "This is Haruhi, Mom. She's part of the Host Club I was telling you about."

"What was your mom like?" The brunette lowered herself to the ground next to her sempai.

"The most beautiful person in the universe." He chuckled. "Al got his personality from her – nice, caring, patient…She was our entire world. We learned alchemy to impress her. Now Hoenheim…" Edward glared at the headstone to the right. "He's where we got our looks from. Unfortunately, I've been cursed with most of his traits – inside and out. But you didn't come here to talk about my parents, did you?"

For a long time, Haruhi said nothing, simply staring towards some graves in the distance. Finally she said quietly, "I saw the ring box on your dresser."

"Yeah?" The blond refused to look at her.

"Were you really going to…"

"Propose? Yeah." Ed leaned backward, his hands supporting his weight. "I was twenty and had made her wait long enough." He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," the brunette said quickly. "Forcing yourself won't help. Trust me."

He nodded and stood up. "C'mon, let's go."

"Where are we going?" Haruhi asked as he led her out of the cemetery and down the country road.

"Granny Pinako's! She invited us over for supper!" The former alchemist grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "Aw, man. I can practically smell her stew now!"

"Shouldn't we get the others?"

"Nah! I didn't tell them! Serves them right for locking me in my room!"

"What about Kyoya?"

"Probably sick of me." He nudged her playfully in the side with his elbow. "Besides, we haven't hung out like this since the day we went out for ramen."

"That was only a week ago, sempai." Despite her words and flat tone, she smiled.

"So what?"

**Does anyone want to make a cover for this? **


End file.
